-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich got a good laugh from his audience of conservatives Friday when he ribbed the U.S. government for not using mail services , such as FedEx , to track down the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the nation .

He said the media did n't need to fact check him because he was engaging in `` hyperbole . ''

Well , it turns out Gingrich 's suggestion was n't far from reality .

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday , two Guatemalans allege that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were guilty of unreasonable search and seizure , and racial profiling when they arrested Guatemalan nationals picking up a package at a FedEx facility in Florida .

The package contained a passport mailed to one of them by the Guatemalan government in the type of sting Gingrich was jokingly suggesting .

`` It is a practical reality that we have the technology that enables us to track -- between UPS and FedEx , we track 24 million packages a day -- while they 're moving , and we allow you to find out where they are for free , '' Gingrich told the Conservative Political Action Committee in Washington .

`` That 's the world that works . Now here 's the world that fails : The federal government today can not find 11 million illegal immigrants , even if they 're sitting still . Now , I have a simple proposal : We send a package to everyone who 's here illegally , and when it 's delivered , we pull it up on a computer , we know where they are . ''

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Damaris Roxana Vasquez , a Guatemalan living in Jupiter , Florida , and her friend Gaspar Gonzalez , an undocumented Guatemalan immigrant .

It alleges that when the two 21-year-olds drove to FedEx in January 2010 , ICE officials arrested Gonzalez and then went to the car where Vasquez was waiting , held her at gunpoint and separated her from her then 2-year-old son , a U.S. citizen .

Gonzalez was deported ; Vasquez , who was reunited with her child a few hours later , is fighting to remain in the United States .

The incident unfolded after FedEx employees inspected the package and alerted ICE officials that it contained a passport . At the time , a representative for ICE said the sting occurred because of concerns over document fraud .

The passport was returned to the Guatemalan government .

John De Leon , an attorney representing the two Guatemalans , said the lawsuit `` challenges the interaction of private industry and the government in their attack on Latino immigrants in this country . ''

De Leon said he did n't think the matter should be considered funny by anyone , especially conservatives .

`` There 's nothing amusing about the idea of government using corporate efficiency in order to violate people 's rights , '' said De Leon , who has filed a suit against ICE and FedEx in U.S. District Court in Florida . `` This is a rank operation against a Latino group of people . These passports were lawful passports . There was nothing illegal about them . ''

He accused ICE of conducting warrantless searches of the packages .

`` FedEx can do that , but the government can not , '' he said . `` Much less FedEx acting as an agent of the government . ''

De Leon added that ICE also violated international law by limiting the Guatemalan Consulate 's ability to get official documents to its nationals in the United States .

`` This is a free country . There should be a wall between the police function and corporate entities . Corporations should not become police agents of the government , '' he said .

FedEx Senior Communications Specialist Chris Stanley said the company `` has a long history of cooperation with law enforcement . We do not comment on the specifics of that cooperation . ''

He said he had no details of the case above and directed CNN to federal authorities . The Department of Homeland Security had no spokesperson available for comment .

Gingrich told the CPAC audience : `` Let me say for my friends in the news media that was hyperbole , and we do n't need a fact check . ''

Turns out it was closer to the truth than he thought .

CNN 's Tom Watkins contributed to this report .

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Gingrich suggests package delivery companies track undocumented immigrants

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Turns out FedEx worked with ICE in a sting operation

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Guatemalans in sting operation are suing FedEx and ICE